Certain people make difficult tasks seem effortless. How do they do that?

 

Some years ago my colleague Ben Tursch was at a conference near a Flemish seaport. Ben watched an elderly man sail a 15 metre barge from the quay out through the harbor to the open sea. It was an object lesson in effortlessness.

 

The lone sailor's first action was to light his pipe, which was then parked on the roof of the wheelhouse. He then moved leisurely from one end of the barge to the other, unhitching a rope, adjusting the tiller, hoisting a sail, and punctuating each action with a passing puff on his pipe. Each action seemed to require a minimum of effort, and was perfectly timed. The enormous barge moved slowly away from the quayside, maneuvered it's way past numerous moored watercraft and headed steadily out to sea. As far as Ben could tell, the pipe never had to be relit. 

 

My guess is that effortlessness comes from years and years of practice. Maybe natural talent has a part to play. Maybe not. But after years of practice, most people figure out the best way of doing things. The best mental models, the best methods, and the least amount of wasted energy.

 

The story prompted me to ask myself “Which of my regular work tasks require the most effort, and what to I need to do to make them effortless?” Answering that question changed the way I did many onerous tasks.

 

What do you put most of your energy into doing?